Raising Free-Range Kids – SuperSalon with Lenore Skenazy

In this SuperSalon, Lenore Skenazy — author of  Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow — will join Interintellect host and producer Maria Górska-Piszek to discuss childhood independence, anxious parenting, increasing control of everything children do, and how we can create conditions for them to cultivate agency and resilience.

Can you remember the most exciting things you did when you were a kid? Chances are, you’d prefer your own children to never try this on their own. From climbing the tallest structures we could find, to long biking trips around the city or wandering in the woods, the most thrilling adventures happened far from parental supervision. That’s how we figured out how much we’re capable of doing on our own, learned how to work through problems together with other kids, and discovered that the whole world is ours to explore.

These days, few kids get to experience the exhilaration of roaming freely with their friends. For many of them even walking to the bus stop or grocery store is absolutely off the table. Now that we have tools to control almost every minute of our children’s lives, we often see it as our duty and an obligation to make sure they’re never in any kind of danger. Given a choice, what kind of a parent would choose not to protect their kid?

When Lenore Skenazy let her 9-year-old son ride the New York Subway on his own and wrote about it in her column, she was quickly dubbed as “America’s Worst Mom”. Since then, she’s been working on promoting childhood independence and resilience. As a co-founder of Let Grow, she visits conferences and schools explaining how we can give kids the independence they need to grow into capable, confident, and happy adults.

Come join Lenore and fellow Interintellects to explore questions like:

• Where is the line between neglect and teaching kids independence?
• How does world-proofing your baby work in practice?
• Can you create pockets of freedom for your kid when all of your friends and neighbors think you’re crazy irresponsible?
• Why is everybody so anxious about their parenting choices?
• How can we let go of the illusion that we can control everything?

Recommended reading before the Salon:

• What exactly is this whole ‘free-range kid’ thing?
• Mother, May I?
• Childhood Independence is On The Verge of Extinction in America